Relationship of Priest Pluton Emplacement to Deformation and Metamorphism of Estadio Canyon in the S

Relationship of Priest Pluton Emplacement to Deformation and Metamorphism of Estadio Canyon in the Southern Manzano Mountains, New Mexico Department of Geosciences Undergraduate Student, Texas Tech University, Texas 79409, USA ABSTRACT The Manzano Mountains of central New Mexico have great exposures of Proterozoic metamorphic and granitic rocks. Estadio Canyon, located in the Southern Manzano Mountains, has exposures of overturned folds, foliated metamorphic rocks, and a ductile shear zone. The Priest Pluton is a granitic intrusion that was emplaced 1.4 Ga. The overturned folds predate the pluton emplacement. This is evident in the lack of metamorphism and foliation of the Priest Pluton. The pluton caused local shortening and the formation of crenulation cleavage. INTRODUCTION The Manzano Mountains are located in central New Mexico east of the Rio Grande Rift. They consist of well-exposed Proterozoic metamorphic rocks. The Priest Pluton is one of many plutons which intruded the Manzano Mountains during the late Proterozoic (Karlstrom et. al 1993). It is located in the southern Manzano Mountains and intruded the host rocks around 1.4 Ga. The host rocks, west of the pluton, consist of metarhyolite, quartzite, minor garnet staurolite schists, and amphibolites. There are two competing hypotheses for the deformation and metamorphism of the Manzano Mountains. One hypothesis is regional deformation, amphibolite grade metamorphism, and two phases of folding predate the emplacement of the pluton. The second hypothesis is

This preview
has intentionally blurred sections.
Sign up to view the full version.

regional deformation, amphibolite grade metamorphism, and folding coincides with the emplacement of the pluton. Geological mapping and structural analysis was conducted in two west-east hikes in Estadio Canyon. Each hike was conducted perpendicular to the contact aureole of the pluton. This helped to correlate any contrasts in structure, lithologies, and metamorphism in relation to the pluton. ROCK DESCRIPTION

This is the end of the preview. Sign up
to
access the rest of the document.